Chapter 205: I Defend in Front, They Steal from Behind
Chapter 205: I Defend in Front, They Steal from Behind
"Gardevoir..."
Gardevoir pouted with a hint of grievance.
The challenge rule was that they couldn't leave the room.
Before the three days were up, Hikaru didn't want to destroy the place either.
One Aura Sphere and half the room would be gone…
Then he wouldn't even have a place to sleep.
He pulled open the curtains.
Outside, a group of Ghost Pokémon was frozen in place.
Litwick, Gastly, Shuppet...
Most were newly born or low-leveled Ghost Pokémon.
Currently, they were trapped outside by Gardevoir's psychic hold, unable to move, their eyes fixed longingly on the Spirit Stone resting on Hikaru's nightstand.
"Surprisingly, they all have decent talent..."
Hikaru marveled as he examined the Pokémon.
---
[Pokémon: Gastly]
Ability: Levitate
Gender: Female
Talent: Lord-Level
Level: 14
Moves: Confuse Ray, Lick, Mean Look, Hypnosis, Payback, Will-O-Wisp...
---
[Pokémon: Phantump]
Ability: Frisk
Gender: Male
Talent: Lord-Level
Level: 15
Moves: Tackle, Confuse Ray, Astonish, Wood Hammer, Leech Seed, Growth...
---
Scanning through them, Hikaru noticed that almost all these Ghost Pokémon were either Lord-Level or Gym-Level.
Some even had Master-Level potential.
If these Pokémon appeared in the wild, they'd be highly sought after.
After all, for an ordinary trainer, catching a Gym-Level talent Pokémon was already considered impressive.
But Ghost Pokémon weren't easy to tame.
If a trainer couldn't properly raise them…
They could easily suffer a backlash.
Though this backlash wasn't intentional, Ghost Pokémon that lacked enough energy would subconsciously drain life force from their trainers.
So if you ever see a trainer with a pale face and dry lips…
Don't be too surprised.
There's a high chance that they own a Ghost Pokémon.
And they probably can't afford to feed it properly.
---
"More and more of them are gathering..."
Sensing the increasing number of Ghost Pokémon outside, Hikaru frowned.
Now he understood the real difficulty of this challenge.
Although the Pokémon so far weren't very strong, their numbers kept growing.
And as the night deepened, their strength was also increasing.
---
"Gardevoir..."
Gardevoir extended both hands, using psychic energy to immobilize wave after wave of approaching Ghost Pokémon.
But her expression was growing more and more frustrated.
Latias was hiding timidly behind Hikaru.
And here she was, facing everything head-on, holding back an endless tide of enemies.
It felt like she was the only employee being overworked while others slacked off.
Too miserable.
In simpler terms…
"I'm defending in front while they're stealing from behind!"
The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt…
---
Outside, a Phantump drooled as it stared at the Spirit Stone inside.
It desperately wanted to devour that energy.
But a powerful psychic force held it firmly in place.
The next second, the psychic grip suddenly disappeared.
It blinked, confused for a moment—
Then immediately cheered up and rushed forward with excitement.
---
"Hmm? A straggler slipped through?"
Hikaru raised an eyebrow, watching the Phantump as it was about to fly in.
A small Aura Sphere appeared in his palm.
He had no doubt that Gardevoir had deliberately let this one in.
With so many Ghost Pokémon outside, it was normal to let one or two slip through, right?
"I got this, Hikaru."
Strangely, after seeing the Ghost Pokémon up close, Latias realized she wasn't as scared anymore.
Many things are like this—
When you haven't experienced them, they seem terrifying. But once you face them, you realize they're not as bad as you thought.
Now, Latias was experiencing the opposite of a fear of the unknown.
Upon seeing the small, pink-eyed Phantump with its wooden mask, she thought…
It actually looked kinda cute?
---
The poor Phantump had just entered the room—
And before it could do anything, Latias immediately restrained it with Psychic.
She was just about to examine what these Ghost Pokémon were made of when—
"Latias, throw it out!" Hikaru ordered.
Good grief.
Through Aura Sense, he could see that even though Phantump hadn't reached the Spirit Stone yet—
The energy from the stone was already trickling toward it in tiny streams.
Phantump's face visibly relaxed, as if it was savoring something delicious.
"Okay!"
Though Latias wanted to observe it further, Hikaru had given a direct order.
So, she immediately flung Phantump out of the room.
---
Looking at the Spirit Stone on the nightstand, Hikaru frowned slightly.
"This stone... its energy is dissipating way too quickly."
From the moment he received it, he had noticed its unstable nature.
But he hadn't expected it to leak this much.
Who even stored this thing?
Outside, more and more Ghost Pokémon were gathering.
The ones visible through the window were just a small fraction of the real numbers.
If someone were to look down from above Phantom Town right now…
They would see three buildings surrounded by an endless sea of Ghost Pokémon.
Hundreds—maybe thousands—of glowing red and blue eyes covered the streets like a blanket of stars.
A nightmarish sight, but undeniably breathtaking.
---
BANG! BANG!
The eerie silence of the town was constantly broken by sounds of impact.
Minute by minute, the night dragged on.
By midnight, the situation had grown even more intense.
Feeling the increasing presence of Ghost Pokémon outside, Hikaru realized—
"We can't just keep stalling like this."
The longer they waited, the more Pokémon would arrive.
And the greater the strain on Gardevoir and Latias.
This challenge was tougher than expected.
To pass, a Pokémon needed strong Ghost-type counters and endurance.
Having both was… rare.
Hikaru couldn't help but wonder—
How were Emma and her cousin dealing with this?
Emma's Gardevoir was a Master-level Psychic-type, so she should be fine.
But Damon's Gallade...?
Wait—why was he even worrying about them?
Shaking off his distractions, Hikaru refocused.
Outside, more and more Ghost Pokémon kept arriving.
He needed a new approach.
"Start throwing them out. Just make sure they're unable to fight back."
"Gardevoir!"
"Understood."
Instead of just holding them in place, Gardevoir and Latias switched to offense.
One by one, the Ghost Pokémon were seized and flung into the darkness beyond the house.
But Hikaru frowned slightly.
This method…
It would get them through the first night.
But it was too exhausting.
There had to be a better solution—
Something that would deal with the problem once and for all.
---
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